The large ichthyosaurCymbospondylus buchseri, sp. nov., from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland), with a survey of the genus in Europe

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Abstract
The anterior half of an ichthyosaur skeleton from the Middle Triassic Grenzbitumenzone Beds of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland, is described as Cymbospondylus buchseri, sp. nov. When compared with Cymbospondylus petrinus from the Middle Triassic of Nevada, C. buchseri shows several advanced features, in part due to increased aquatic adaptation. In the skull, the postorbital region is shortened, and the orbits are slightly enlarged. The pectoral girdle and forelimb bones are wider and less constricted. The humerus is almost as wide as long, thus differing greatly from the humerus of C. petrinus. In the Middle Triassic of Europe, Cymbospondylus occurs in the southern Alps of Italy (a specimen formerly described as Shastasaurus sp.) and in the Muschelkalk Beds of northern Switzerland and Germany, in addition to Monte San Giorgio. Thus Cymbospondylus appears to have had a cosmopolitan distribution.

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